Consecutive 2-1 losses to group favourites Japan and England have eliminated New Zealand from quarter-final contention but midfielder Hayley Moorwood says the desire to carve out a small slice of history is still driving the team.
“We’re disappointed with the first two losses,” Moorwood says.
“But we’re going to prepare like any other game and we’re looking for our first win at a big world event. We’ve performed very well in patches of our first two games and we’ll need to bring that sort of form into the Mexico game. Mexico are a great side – they are ranked higher than us and we’ll need to prepare well.”
Sitting third in Group B, Mexico can still progress through to the last eight with three points but would also need Japan to beat England and a combined five-goal margin of victory from the two games.
New Zealand coach John Herdman is expecting a torrid start to the match as the North Americans try to solve their side of the qualification equation.
“There are two sides going into it with a lot to get out of the match,” Herdman says.
“Mexico are going to throw everything at us. They have to take three points and win by a significant margin.
“They’ll come right at us and that’s the beauty of this match. It’s not a nothing match. There will be a few fireworks – it will be scrappy at times but I think our team is capable of getting up and getting a result.”
Mexico are a rising force in women’s football with a 2-1 win over world number one USA and a 5-0 Cyprus Cup win over the Football Ferns in the last year testimony to their potential.
“They have got a number of threats,” Herdman says.
“They are definitely a counter-attacking team, they hit teams quickly on the transition. They’ve got Dominguez up front and I think she’s got 60-odd goals from 90-odd games so she’s pretty prolific.
“I think Mexico will hang in there. They showed in games like the 2-1 win over USA that they are a tough team to break down. They defend well but are also absolutely lethal on the counter-attack. You think you’ve got them, you think you’re cruising and in a flash they are in behind you.”
The match kicks off at 4.15am on Wednesday morning (NZT) with live coverage on Sky Sport 3.
FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011
New Zealand v Mexico
Sinsheim, Germany
Tuesday July 5, 6.15pm (4.15am July 6 NZT)
Live on Sky Sport 3
New Zealand: (from) 1-Jenny BINDON (gk), 2-Ria PERCIVAL, 3-Anna GREEN, 4-Katie HOYLE, 5-Abby ERCEG, 6-Rebecca SMITH (c), 7-Ali RILEY, 8-Hayley MOORWOOD, 9-Amber HEARN, 10-Sarah GREGORIUS, 11-Kirsty YALLOP, 12-Betsy HASSETT, 13-Rosie WHITE, 14-Sarah McLAUGHLIN, 15-Emma KETE, 16-Annalie LONGO, 17-Hannah WILKINSON, 18-Katie BOWEN, 19-Kristy HILL, 20-Aroon CLANSEY (gk), 21-Erin NAYLOR (gk).
Coach: John HERDMAN
Mexico: (from) 1-Erika VANEGAS (gk), 2-Kenti ROBLES, 3-Rubi SANDOVAL, 4-Alina GARCIAMENDEZ, 5-Natalie VINTI, 6-Natalie GARCIA, 7-Juana LOPEZ, 8-Guadalupe WORBIS, 9-Maribel DOMINGUEZ (captian), 10-Dinora GARZA, 11-Nayeli RANGEL, 12-Pamela TAJONAR (gk), 13-Liliana MERCADO, 14-Monica ALVARADO, 15-Luz del Rosario SAUCEDO, 16-Charlyn CORRAL, 17-Teresa NOYOLA, 18-Veronica PEREZ, 19-Moica OCAMPO, 20-Cecilia SANTIAGO (gk), 21-Stephany MAYOR.
Coach: Leonardo CUELLAR
Story courtesy of New Zealand Football.
For more on New Zealand football go to www.nzfootball.co.nz